Amazing kids!

Recently we held the final round of our speaking competition.  I judged the first round with 2 Chinese managers from our school.  The judges for the final round were me, Linda (the other foreign teacher), and Gabriel (our teacher trainer).

It was a hot day at the top of a mall.  There were windows on the ceiling and the sun came right in. It was sooooo hot.  Like I've said before, the Chinese don't think there is ever an inappropriate time to use an umbrella.

 

Before the competition the girls had their makeup done.

 

The MC's for the competition were one of the Chinese teachers I work with and one of the girls that works at the front desk.

21 students made it to the final round.  Each student had 4 parts to complete.  First, they introduced themselves.  Their introductions usually went like this 'My English name is Angel.  I have a happy family.  There are 3 people in my family.  My mother, my father, and me.  I'm a cute girl.  Everybody likes me, do you like me?'   Then they had to tell a story in English.  After that we asked them 3 questions.   Finally, they had to display a talent.  I had no idea the kids were so talented.   For the talent portion they told jokes, recited 'I have a dream', played the accordion, did a dance, sang a song, and performed magic tricks.  I didn't realize they were so talented.   I was nervous for them but none of them looked nervous.  It's funny how some have more confidence up on a stage then they do in class.

  Oh these boys, some days I hate them and some days I love them.  Bill, on the right, is one of my favorites.  Sometimes I misjudge his out of control behavior in class as naughty behavior.  But actually he just gets really excited and eager.  Jason, on the left, is just naughty sometimes.  However, he worked really hard and won the competition among the younger students. 

Emily is one of my favorite students.  She is 11 years old and really enjoys speaking English.  One day I had this conversation with her:
Emily:  Why don't you wear your own clothes?
Me:  Because I have to wear this blue shirt for work.
Emily:  But I think it is not beautiful.   You should wear your own clothes because they are beautiful.
Me: Emily, you're right.
She has a big personality and literally can't keep her mouth shut sometimes. I hope we can keep in touch because I would really like to see what sort of a woman she grows up to be. She came in 2nd place. 

The winner of the older kids was Jerry.  He is also very talented and wrote his own story in English.  It was impressive and I gave him the highest score.

'Modesty helps one to go forward, where as conceit makes one lag behind.'